After Six
by PrimaPiranha
Summary: 7 RANDOM one-shots of the Heroes of Olympus. Some are AU-ish. Just read it.
1. Miss Metal Detector

Hazel was sitting under the shade of an umbrella next to Frank, watching the waves come in, and out. In, and out. In, and out.

Frank was trying to make a sand castle in the sand, but was utterly failing. Big clumps of wet sand were all that he was able to create.

"Do you like my…sand castle?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "It looks like a bunch of camels."

Frank frowned. "At least I make a more attractive camel when I shape-shift."

Hazel laughed. "Why don't you ask Annabeth for help? After all, she's the architect."

"You're right." Frank called to Annabeth, who was having a splash fight with Percy. She started to wade over to Frank, but not before being doused with a large wave of water from Percy. She shoved him backwards into the water, his head disappearing under the surface, then came to help Frank.

Hazel chuckled, then turned her head in the other direction, where she could hear loud laughing.

A brown-haired, seven-year old boy was sitting in the sand, trying to dig through the sand. A blond-haired boy and a girl, both the same age as the first boy, were laughing and waving some shiny things in his face.

"Ha, ha, Luke, look what we found!"

"Yeah, Luke, what did you find?"

"NOTHING! HA! C'mon, Lacy, let's go find some more. This nerd won't be able to find any."

The two blond-haired kids ran off.

Hazel frowned, then got up and walked over to the boy, who was looking at the sand hopelessly.

She knelt by him. "Hello. Is your name Luke?"

He looked up at her with big, green eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I heard your two…um…friends talking to you. What's wrong?"

He sighed. "They're not my friends-and their names are Kyle and Lacy. Their parents are my parents' friends. My parents told me to try and get along with them, but they keep bragging about all the cool gems and coins and shells they find in the sand."

"Why do your parents want you to be friends with them?"

"We're really poor, and they're really rich, that's why." Luke sighed again, frowning at the sand.

Hazel smiled at the boy. "Maybe I can help you."

"Really?"

"Of course! I'm going to help you find some gems and coins."

So they set off to dig through the sand, Luke in one direction and Hazel in the other. Whenever Luke's back was turned, Hazel would make some precious gems appear in the sand near him, and he would let out an excited shout whenever he found one. Hazel pretended to find some too.

In the end, they had found a large pile of glittering gems. Hazel was pretty sure there were some diamonds and pieces of gold in there.

Luke was struggling to keep it all in his arms. "Wow! Thanks!"

"No problem. You should show those to your parents. They might earn a lot of money if they sell those."

"Thanks so much…miss…um…what's your name?"

Hazel opened her mouth, then changed her mind about what she was going to say, and opened it again.

"You can call me Miss Metal Detector."

"Well, then, thanks Miss Metal Detector!"

With a wave, Hazel headed back to her umbrella a few yards away.

Behind her back, she could hear Kyle and Lacy run up to Luke again.

"So, Luke, what junk d'you-WHOA!"

"Luke, what the heck? Where did you get all of that?"

"Miss Metal Detector helped me."


	2. Guys vs Girls: Relationships

**A/N: So this one-shot is basically where Annabeth and Luke are a couple, and Percy and Annabeth are just friends. But if you love Percabeth, check out my awesome ending. Well, it's not technically mine, because I got this idea from a YouTube video, but still. Enjoy!**

Percy was sitting on the couch, staring intently at his television screen. He had to beat this video game.

A few minutes after he was on the boss level, though, the door of the house opened and slammed shut.

In walked Annabeth, face red, hair astray, and gray eyes menacing.

"Let me guess," Percy said, without looking up from his game. "You had a fight with him again."

"Yeah!" Annabeth crossed her arms and sat angrily onto the sofa next to him. "And we broke up! I swear, Luke can be _such_ a jerk sometimes. Why can't guys be more like girls?"

Percy frowned and paused the game. "Wait, what?"

"Why can't guys be more like girls? That would fix _all_ relationship problems."

"Seriously? Girls need to be more like guys. Girls are the ones who always mess things up."

"Well, you're completely wrong."

"Fine then." Percy turned to face Annabeth. "Then I guess we'll just have to prove once and for all who's better. Which is obviously guys."

"Um, I love the way you lie. But it's on."

**START GAME**

_**Both teams start out with 1000 points at each round, and whichever team with the highest score at the end of the round will win. **_

**…..**

**ROUND 1**

"Well, first off," Annabeth said, grabbing a remote controller and playing the video game on the screen with Percy, "Guys are super shallow."

Next to her, Percy rolled his eyes.

She continued. "All they care about is how a girl looks. When it comes to how much they like a girl, beauty is the first thing on their list. Forget about brains or brawn. They just want a beautiful face and body. You know, there's way more to us than our exterior."

**Girls: 1000**

**Guys: 1000-200 (800)**

"Okay, fine," Percy said. "Boys can be a _little_ shallow sometimes. But that doesn't mean that girls aren't just as shallow."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, jerking her controller up. "And how exactly, does-"

"The first thing on a _girl's_ list is a guy with a nice body and face."

"Not necessarily."

"Oh, come on, Annabeth, would you _really_ date Octavian if he wasn't as stupid as he is?"

"Touché."

**Girls: 1000-200 (800)**

**Guys: 800**

"And," Percy added, "Girls may always think that guys are shallow, but what do you do every single morning? You put on makeup, and keep applying it all throughout the day, and even go to get your hair done. Like, why not do it at home to save money? And then the whole colored nails thing. How shallow and self-conceited can you get?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to speak, but Percy continued, "And don't forget shopping. Girls love to go to shopping to buy materialistic things that make them look nice, like clothes, or shoes, or…wait for it…more makeup!"

**Girls: 800-200 (600)**

**Guys: 800**

"And don't people say that the one thing you should never do is call a girl fat?"

"Well, yeah!" Annabeth said, putting down her controller.

"But when people, especially girls, call guys fat, they usually don't care. But if you call a girl fat, there's gonna be a dam hole in the universe. Thus proving that girls care much more about their physical appearance."

**Girls: 600-200 (400)**

**Guys: 800**

**ROUND WINNER: Guys**

…**.**

**Round 2**

"Well, here's one," Annabeth said as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She had just changed into a dress and Percy into jeans and a leather jacket.

"In the relationship, the girl usually cares _way_ more than the guy."

Percy snorted. "Since when?"

"Well, let's start small. Remember when I got my haircut earlier this week?"

* * *

_Annabeth walks into the room, hair curled and slightly shorter, and Percy is sitting on the couch, on his laptop. _

_Percy looks up at Annabeth, frowning at her now bouncing hair. "Hair," he said. _

"_Oh, sorry, what was that?" Annabeth said, smiling._

"_I said here," Percy said, handing her a brush, "Fix it with a comb."_

* * *

"At least I noticed it was different," Percy said with a shrug, slicking back his hair.

**Girls: 1000**

**Guys: 1000-200 (800)**

Percy and Annabeth both walked outside to the car, where Percy held open the passenger side door for Annabeth. They both got in, and Percy started to drive.

Annabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Girls are more caring, and you know it."

"Pfft. That was _one_ example. And again, shallow. You got mad because I didn't notice a haircut?"

"It's not about the haircut, it's the fact that you didn't care enough to notice the difference." She sighed. "Just like that one time you came over…"

* * *

_Annabeth is sitting on the couch, feeling really depressed. Percy walks up and sits next to her. _

"_Hey, Annabeth, what's wrong?"_

"_My dog died today. It was a hit and run."_

"_Oh. I'm so sorry."_

_A few seconds pass. Then-_

"_Do you have any more blue cookies?"_

_Annabeth looks at him strangely. _

"_Oh, you're right, I'm sorry, how insensitive of me. I should just go check myself."_

* * *

"My defense," Percy said, turning a corner and entering a parking lot, "You didn't have any left, so it was kind of even."

**Girls: 1000**

**Guys: 800-200 (600)**

Percy orders a small bowl of ice cream, and he sits at a table with Annabeth.

"Okay, fine, but can you please stop using those examples? We're talking about relationships, not our friendship. Ah." Percy opened his mouth and with a roll of her eyes, Annabeth fed him a spoonful of ice cream.

"Fine then. Breakups show a lot about how much people care. And when it comes to breakups, girls care more than the guys."

"Are you kidding? That's totally not true."

"Oh yeah? Check this out."

* * *

_Percy and Annabeth are sitting on the couch, on their phones, when Percy sends Annabeth a text and walks away. _

_The text says:_

_I'm breaking up with you._

* * *

**Girls: 1000**

**Guys: 600-200 (400)**

"You can't use that, it never happened. We're not together. And a text break-up? Seriously? I don't think those are real." Percy and Annabeth walk the streets of NY, where the sky is fading to a light purple. Percy takes off his jacket and puts it around Annabeth's shoulders.

"Oh, trust me, they happen all the time. And let's just see who takes the break up harder, the guy or the girl.

* * *

_Annabeth: Sitting in bed, super-depressed. "Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I should call him back."_

_Percy: "I have to call her back. I left all my blue cookies at her house."_

* * *

"Psshht. Again, you can't use that, because it never happened."

"But still. After time passes, the girl cares way more than the guy, who moves on after the first hour."

**Girls: 1000**

**Guys: 400-200 (200)**

"Look," Percy said, stopping suddenly on the trail they were walking on, Annabeth following suit. "I-I know some guys have been jerks to you in the past, but…you should know that all guys aren't like that. You just…need to find the guys that actually care about you. And trust me when I say…there _are_ guys like that. You just haven't been looking in the right places. Luke was a jerk to you. And, hypothetically speaking, if _we_ were ever in a relationship, we wouldn't, you, know, fight as often…"

"Maybe you're right," Annabeth said, stepping closer to him. "Some guys do care." They got really close, until-

"BOO YA!" Percy yelled, jumping back. "You just admitted it! Guys _do_ care!"

**Girls: 1000-500 (500)**

**Guys: 200+800 (1000)**

"Ha ha," Percy said with a grin. "So I guess when it comes to caring in a relationship, guys have the advanta-"

But he was cut off by Annabeth stepping closer and kissing him.

**Girls: 500+500 (1000)**

**Guys: 1000**


	3. The Ferris Wheel

"Come on, Jason, hurry up! The park might close soon!"

Piper waved her boyfriend over to one of the only attractions they hadn't done. It wasn't every day they got to come to a theme park, and Piper wanted to get the best out of it.

In fact, they had been here so long, that the moon was already out and most park workers had already left.

"Um, Pipes? I think the park is already closed."

"Just come on! I want to do the ferris wheel…"

Piper led him over to the giant white wheel with colored benches hanging from it. A bored looking park attendant was standing there, yawning at the buttons and levers he was standing by.

As they passed, Jason tried for a smile at the attendant, but he just yawned.

Since no one else was there, Piper took a seat in one bench-cart thingy, and Jason in the one behind her, instead of sitting together.

Slowly, the park attendant pushed up the lever and the ferris wheel started to move.

Piper let the wind whip her hair. It felt so good...to soar into the sky...even without being a child of Jupiter…

"Enjoying this, Pipes?"

"It's amazing. I can see the Argo II from here…"

"Now you know how I feel."

She sighed dreamily. "Yeah...soaring through the sky...like a bird…"

The ferris wheel made three rounds, and Piper was standing up the entire time, feeling like a bird in the night air, wind against her face, arms extended, if only her feet would lift off of the bench-

Suddenly, in the middle of the fourth round, the ferris wheel stopped abruptly, making both Jason and Piper jerk.

"Wha-?" Jason peered over the edge of his bench. The park attendant was no where to be seen.

And they were suspended in the air at the very top of the wheel.

In the middle of the night.

"Um...Jason? Is this supposed to happen?"

"I don't...think so…"

After standing up there for a few more minutes, confused and anxious, nothing happened except for the wind getting stronger.

"J-jason? I'm worried."

"Yeah...this is weird…"

A few more minutes passed.

"Jason, we have to get down from here."

"Okay. Just stay there. I'm coming to your bench."

And in a few seconds, he was standing next to Piper.

"Now what?" She said still looking around nervously.

She wasn't afraid of heights…

Right?

"Just hold on." Jason wrapped his arm around her waist, and slowly, her feet lifted off of the bench.

A tugging feeling in her stomach told her to be scared, but suddenly, she started to enjoy the sensation.

This was _much_ closer to flying than the ferris wheel.

Yes, the ferris wheel made the wind whip her face and made her feel like soaring, but flying with a son of Jupiter was a whole different thing.

And as Piper landed on the grass with Jason, she realized that she didn't need a Ferris wheel to make her heart soar.

**A/N: Hope you liked! Cause now you know that ferris wheels aren't just for Tris and Tobias! If you did enjoy this Jiper fluff, I would appreciate reviews! **


	4. The Twix Bar

Leo walked through the corridors excitedly, gesturing for his friends-Percy, Frank, and Jason-to follow. He had finally persuaded them to take a break from their work to have a snack.

"C'mon, guys, is a little chocolate gonna hurt you?"

"If you have diabetes, yes," Frank pointed out.

"Then is a little diabetes gonna hurt you?"

He pushed open a door at the end of the hall to find a set of bathrooms, a sink, a table with a coffee maker, and his long lost darling-the vending machine.

Leo pulled out a quarter, made a big show of putting it into the slot, and pushed the buttons for a Twix bar. The coils slowly started to move out, pushing the Twix bar closer and closer to the little slot thingy where he would have to pick it up.

But it got stuck on the coils halfway to victory.

Leo frowned and tapped on the glass. Nothing happened. He moved to the side and attempted to shake the machine.

Nothing happened.

Percy tried to help him with shaking the machine, and soon, Jason and Frank did too.

They tried shaking it from all angles, tried throwing things at it, Jason even climbed on top of the vending machine, but the Twix bar remained stuck.

For the next ten minutes, they tried to get the Twix bar to budge, using every method possible.

Ten minutes later, they heard a voice outside the door.

"Honestly you guys, _what_ is all the racket, I can hear you all the way from the other hall-"

Piper froze the moment she opened the door.

Jason was hovering in midair above the vending machine, Frank had turned into a bull and was charging into the side of the machine, Percy was dousing the machine in water from the sink, and Leo was trying to set the glass on fire.

They all froze when they saw Piper.

"Um, what are you doing?" She asked suspiciously.

"We're painting, um, duh," Leo said. "What does it look like we're doing?!"

"We're trying to get a Twix bar out of the vending machine," Jason said.

Piper walked up to the vending machine, where all four boys moved out of the way, and bumped her hip against the glass. The Twix bar fell.

Piper opened the slot and pulled it out, raising her eyebrows at the boys. Then she headed out the door.

All of the boys' jaws had dropped.

"Hey Annabeth!" They heard Piper call. "I got a snack for you. You like chocolate?"

"You bet I do," they heard Annabeth reply.

All four of them unfroze and charged for the door at the same time, protesting that the chocolate was theirs. But all of them got stuck in the doorway, trying to climb over each other but only managing to fall in a mass of limbs.

They spotted Annabeth and Piper at the other end of the hall. Hazel joined them, and they split the Twix bar into three. Then with a small wave, they headed back through the door.

**A/N: I hope you liked reading that chapter, because I sure liked writing it! Review if you like chocolate or this fanfic. Thanks! Bie!**


	5. A Brain Made of Seaweed

"Coming up next, an exciting interview with one of the most important Valentine's day sellers in the world, so stay tuned, and we'll be right back on Channel Five News."

The man holding the camera in front of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase held up five fingers, slowly counting down, until the commercials started.

Annabeth Chase whipped out her laptop and started typing.

Next to her, her co-worker, Percy Jackson, cleared his throat loudly.

Annabeth ignored him.

He coughed even louder.

"I'm terribly sorry, Percy, but do you need a glass of water? If not, I would truly appreciate it if you didn't retch all over my computer."

"No no, I was just going to say...it's Valentine's day today."

"No way, I never would've guessed, seeing as how the whole lobby is decorated with hearts."

"Where's Luke taking you?"

Annabeth bit her lip. Luke had told her he was busy today, and she completely understood. They had been together six months, so it wasn't that big of a deal if he was busy on one day. Even if that one day happened to be Valentine's day.

"He's busy today."

"Hmm. Busy, on one of the most romantic days of the year? How awful."

"It's not awful, he just has a lot on his hands right now, and-"

"And doesn't have enough time to spend with a girl that perfectly balances beauty and brains? That part doesn't make sense to me." He looked at her innocently.

"Look, Percy, Luke has important work to do, and I completely understand if he doesn't have enough time right now."

"Well, if I were him-and thank the gods I'm not-then I would be thanking my lucky stars every day. And for Valentine's day-well, I would take you to the nicest restaurant in town."

Annabeth frowned. "Eleven M-"

"-adison Park," Percy said.

Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Pick you up at eight?" Percy said.

Annabeth sighed and turned back to her computer. "For a place that upscale, you must expect-"

"No, no, we would just be two-" Percy slicked back his hair, -"very attractive co-workers, enjoying a nice dinner together."

Annabeth stared at him out of the corner of her eye.

He was smiling at the opposite wall.

After a moment, she said "Maybe. I mean, I don't know, I-"

Percy handed her a phone. It was ringing.

"Is that...my phone-?"

"Shh." Percy said. "It's ringing."

Annabeth held it to her ear.

"Annabeth?"

"Luke?" She frowned. Percy started to lean on her shoulder, but she pushed him away. "Look, we've been together for-what-six months now? And you haven't made any plans for Valentine's day."

"Listen, Annabeth-"

"No, _you_ listen. There are people out there who can do better. And Luke, you-you just didn't cut it for me. Goodbye."

Annabeth ended the call and put the phone down.

Percy whistled. "So...I take it you're single now?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, and, as professionals, you _can_ pick me up at eight."

"It would be my pleasure."

Annabeth turned back to her laptop and continued typing.

Percy coughed a little.

She fought off a smile.

Percy coughed again, louder.

"Honestly, you know what-" Annabeth grabbed a glass of water on a nearby table and splashed it in his face. "You have a brain made of seaweed."

"If you say so, Wise Girl."


	6. The Princess and The Frog

Hazel sat outside by the old well and wept.

Today was positively the worst day ever. She had come to a costume party with her friends, but then they ditched her and she was bullied by some random people. She was kicked out, and that was that.

Now she was sitting by a small well, letting her tears fall into the water. Around her was tall grass, and the sky looked like it was going to rain soon.

How come Hazel's life couldn't be a fairytale? Why, why why?!

Ariel got with Prince Eric in the end. Jasmine got with Aladdin. Belle got with the Beast. Snow White got with her prince, and Cinderella got with her Prince Charming.

But Hazel? No. Heck, she could barely scrape out a few friends, let alone a Prince Charming.

She felt tears slide out of her eyes some more, when she saw a slimy green face reflected in the water.

She sat up and turned to stare at a frog that had accompanied her at the side of the well.

"Hello, Mr. Frog," Hazel said, wiping her face and turning to look at the creature.

The frog stared at her with big eyes.

Hazel frowned at it. "I suppose you want a kiss? Well, don't get your hopes up. This isn't some movie where-where I kiss you and you turn into a prince."

"Well, I don't know about _prince_, but I can turn into a human."

Hazel whipped her head towards the frog. "Y-you can talk?"

The frog rolled its eyes. "No. Usually, I'm a shape-shifter, but some goddess cursed me to stay like a frog until true love's first kiss or something."

"Well, I think you should know that true love isn't real."

"Save your breath. I already know. I've been looking everywhere, and either no one wants to kiss me, or they're not my true love." The frog sighed.

Thunder boomed in the distance. Small droplets of rain started to hit the ground.

"I can try, if you would like," Hazel said to the frog.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure it's going to work."

Hazel picked up the frog, trying not to look revolted. She slowly brought the amphibian closer and closer, trying not to look away. What the heck was she doing?! She was kissing a talking frog!

But without any more hesitation, Hazel kissed the frog.

A blinding flash of light that was either lightning or magic spread around them. When Hazel blinked her eyes open, she saw a human boy.

He had a strong build, with black hair and a babyish face. He looked Chinese, but she wasn't sure.

"It worked!" He said, looking down at his human body. "It worked!" He laughed happily, picking Hazel up and spinning her around. "I can't believe it!"

Hazel found herself laughing too. "This is crazy!"

Lightning flashed, and it started to rain for real.

"So, shall we go to the party, m'lady?" The frog-no, wait-the human said.

"It would be an honor," Hazel said. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Frank Zhang. You?"

"Hazel Levesque."

"Well, Hazel Levesque, thank you for being my true love."


	7. Limelight

**A/N: So this is one of my longer one-shots, because I feel like writing something long. Usually my one-shots are like, really short, but this time ya'll are lucky. Enjoy!**

Jason

"...and then I was like, dude! Back off! You don't want to get rabies, do you?!"

We all laughed. Lunch was one of the only times of day that we could chill out without being yelled at by a teacher.

Me and my friends-which consisted of Percy Jackson, Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo, the Stoll brothers, and a few others-were pretty much the only thing worth coming to school for. I didn't like education _that_ much, and there were plenty of bullies here at Goode High. My friends made it all worth it, though.

Connor and Travis Stoll got into an intense arm wrestle, and I busied myself with my burrito, my eyes wandering around the cafeteria.

And that's when the doors opened.

In came a slender girl, with brown hair braided with feathers and astonishing kaleidoscope eyes. Instantly, half of the boys in the lunch room were staring at her like she was some hero, half of the girls were sneering at her in jealousy, and the other half of the girls were all waving for her to sit at their table.

Even Connor looked up, making him lose the arm wrestle.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Piper McLean," Percy answered. "One of the most popular people here at Goode."

I snorted. "Who does she think she is, walking around like she's some sort of big shot?" I watched as she sat down by a group of girls, smiling at them.

"I don't know man, but she might just beat me for "Hottest Person in the School"," Leo said, staring at Piper with wide eyes.

"Come on guys, she's probably a snob. Lay off." I stared at them as they all stared at Piper.

"Yeah, guys, Jason's right. We have more important things to be talking about." Percy swallowed the last bite of his lunch. "Like the math test next period."

"Oh crud." I had completely forgotten about that.

After lunch, we headed to math. The teacher, Mr. Simmons, looked at us menacingly, holding a thick stack of papers.

We all took our seats in rows, and he silently passed out the test.

After I started it, it noticed that it wasn't too hard. I finished in a decent amount of time and walked up to turn it in. He snatched it from me with a scowl.

I turned around and started walking back to my seat, when I caught sight of Piper McLean, her face screwed up in concentration.

I smirked as I sat back down. She wasn't good at _everything._

But when she stood up to turn her paper in, Mr. Simmons gave her a wide smile which she returned.

I caught sight of Percy rolling his eyes from across the room.

Over the next few days, I noticed that people were paying Piper _way _too much attention. Girls squealed whenever she came in the room, and teachers sucked up to her. In the hallways, I was shunted to the side as boys practically threw themselves in front of her.

"What is _with _that girl?!" I said to Nico one day during lunch. "It's like she's radiating some sort of evil...thing."

"I guess people just like her," he had shrugged.

Over the course of the week, she was the talk of the school. Whenever I walked around, that's all girls were gossiping about.

"Oh my gosh, _where _does she get the feathers for her hair?"

"Honestly, I just wish she would talk to me during lunch. But she's too busy with that Annabeth girl."

"I hope I get partnered up with her for science!"

And even the guys, too. During lunch, I overheard some conversations that made me want to retch.

"Do you think she'll go out with me of I give her flowers?"

"Okay. I'm going to go up to her after lunch and see what she's up to."

"Penelope McLean, won't you be mine?!"

Piper was just weird. Maybe her evil spell had worked on the rest of the school, but not on me.

I was immune.

Over the weekend, I was hoping the frenzy about her would go down, but it didn't. People were gossiping about her on _every _social media site. And Monday was practically a repeat of the previous week.

Teachers sucking up to her, people aka if her to go out with them, or its at their lunch table, or do their hair.

Honestly? I bet if she told someone to jump off a cliff, they would do it wholeheartedly.

I even bumped into her on the way to lunch accidentally. The heavy stack of books that were obscuring her face cascaded to the floor. Her face was pink from either breathing too hard, embarrassment, or both.

"Sorry," she whispered, bending down to pick up her books.

I sighed. Because I didn't want to be hated forever, and solely for that reason, I helped her pick up her books.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly after I handed her the rest of her books.

And that's when I realized that hadn't said a single thing that whole time, and probably looked infinitely stupid.

"Watch where you're going," I threw back at her coldly, walking towards the cafeteria. I expected her feelings to be hurt, but instead, when I turned the corner, I saw her staring at me in awe.

The next day, Piper was absent.

And it was like a dark cloud had passed over Goode High. Everyone seemed to be in a bad mood.

She was absent the rest of the week too, and I tried to feel happy about it, but something wasn't right.

On Saturday, after trying and failing to finish all of my homework, I decided to go for a bike ride to clear my mind.

It had rained yesterday, and the neighborhood was silent except for a few crickets. The sky was dull and darkish gray, and I could hear thunder clapping every now and then.

I rode around the neighborhood once, before going down the street towards the school.

The main building stood looming over me as I turned the corner. The creek flowing by the school was overflowing and full of rocks. And by the stream, I saw a person with a large gray hoodie, dark jeans, flip flops and brown hair, staring out into the distance.

I recognized it as McLean.

I was so transfixed that I didn't notice where I was going and my bike tripped over a rock, sending me crashing to the ground.

"Ow..." I slowly pushed myself up, trying to ignore the large scrape on the side of my face. Kicking my bike into the grass, I walked towards Piper.

As I got closer, I noticed she was crying.

"Hey-are you okay?" A voice said. It took me a few moments to realize it was mine.

She turned to look at me, and surprise lit up her features for a moment, before she sunk back into her sad look. "Yeah, I'm fine." She wiped her nose.

"You're crying."

She didn't seem to find any excuse for that, so she sighed.

"It's just-ever since I moved to Goode, people have been crowding around me so much, treating me like some sort of Queen. And they're kind of starting to harass me."

I was taken aback. "And...you don't like the attention?"

"Of course not! I'm afraid to walk home now, because people try to follow me! I asked my dad to disconnect my computer because people keep messaging me weird stuff! I was absent this week because I-I just need a break. From everything." She groaned and put her head in her hands. "It's hard to explain."

"No-I understand. I guess it can get pretty annoying sometimes."

She sniffled. "That's a first."

"Why are you here?"

"Some of my 'friends' drove me here to do something or other but they found this guy they liked and ditched me. And I live far away from the school and have no idea how to get home."

"I can ride you," I said automatically.

She looked up. "Really?"

"Sure. If you tell me where you live. Don't worry-I won't stalk you."

She let out a shaky breath. "Thanks." She tried to wipe her eyes but failed epicly, only making more water leak out of them.

"Hey-it's okay." Before I knew what was doing, I had given her a hug.

She returned it. "Thanks...um...?"

"Jason," I said. "Jason Grace."

A few moments later, she pulled away. "Do you know why I looked at you weirdly when you bumped into me that day?"

I grimaced. "Because I was extremely rude."

"No. Because you were one of the only people who ever talked to me so rudely. I actually liked it-it was a change from being idolized and stalked."

I found myself laughing. "Well, I was going to apologize, but..."

She laughed. "I like you, Jason."

"And you're not as bad as I first thought, Piper. Come on, I'll ride you home."

So I got onto my bike, and Piper sat behind me, backwards, directing me to her house.

It was pretty far away. By the time we reached it, fat droplets of water started falling from the sky.

"Bye, Jason," Piper said, smiling.

"Bye," I said waving.

She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her big hoodie, walking up to her front porch, when I blurted:

"Want to hang out tomorrow?"

She turned around. "Sure. Want to go to the mall? I think I need a costume to go incognito at school."

I laughed. "Pick you up at...noon?"

"Sounds good. See ya."

"Bye."

She opened her door with one last wave and disappeared inside.

On the ride back home, I threw my hands up in the air happily, while riding the bike.

And this time, I didn't fall.

**A/N: I hope you liked! Please review if you did! Bie!**


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